Hood for bottled gas containers



Feb. 14, 1950 w. R. ROSE HOOD FOR BOTTLED GAS CONTAINERS Filed Feb. 12, 1946 Patented Feb. 14, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,497,561 HOOD FOR BOTTLED GAS CONTAINERS William R. Rose, Arl ngton-ya.

Application February 12, 1946, Serial No. 647,011

' This invention relates to an improved hood for so-called bottled gas containers, being adapted to shield the upper ends of the bottles and protect the valves and other equipment connected with the outlets of the bottles.

'Her'etofore, it has been found difli'cult to providea closed joint between the back plate and cover along the vertical edges thereof such as would interlock and afford rigidity and stability to thecover when closed. Also, it has been found a problem to provide some simple and practical means for holding the cover open so that a full bottle may be conveniently substituted for an empty bottle. Props and the like heretofore used for the purpose are disadvantageous in that they form an obstruction in the way of a bottle being removed or replaced, and become loose, detached and lost.

The present invention therefore has as its objects to provide a hood wherein a closed interlocking joint will be provided between the vertical edges of the back plate and cover, wherein a permanently fixed, flexible, resilient catch will be provided for holding the cover open, wherein, after the cover has been raised to open position, the catch may be flexed to engage the free end thereof in the adjacent joint-channel of the cover for holding the cover open, wherein, when it is subsequently desired to close the cover, the cover may be raised slightly to clear the free end of the catch, when the catch will flex back to normal position out of the way, after which the cover may be closed, thus providing an arrangement wherein the cover may be closed with one hand without touching the catch, and wherein the cover may be conveniently locked closed.

Other and incidental objects of the invention will appear during the course of the following description, and in the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved hood showing the cover closed.

Figure 2 is a side elevation showing the cover open.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary vertical section on the line 3--3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary horizontal section on the line 44 of Figure 2 and showing the manner in which the catch is flexed to engage and hold the cover open.

Figure 5 is a perspective view showing the back plate and cover separateed from each other.

In carrying the invention into effect, I employ a flat resilient sheet metal back plate I ll which is provided with apertures adapted to accommodate fastening devices securing the back 5 Claims. (01. 312-:112)

. 2 I plate to a wall or the like, and -is bent to form vertical side flanges H cut away at their upper ends to define ears '12. At its upper margin, the back plate'is also bent to provide a-forwar-dly in clined drip flange l3 terminating short ofzthe side flanges H.

Cooperating with the back plate "I is a resllsient sheet metal cover I4 having a curved front wall 15 andsegmental side walls Hi, all of which are .provided at their loweredges with narrow stiffening flanges ll. At their rear margins, the side walls It are bent inwardly and then out.- wardly to form rearwardly facing, vertical cham nels I18 which terminate short of the lower ex: tremities of said walls and are adapted to snugly accommodate the side flanges H of the back plate 18 therein. The ears I2 of the back plate are received ainthe upper .ends of said channels, and extending through the side walls I16 of the cover, through said ears, and the walls of said channels are bolts or other fastening devices :19 pivotally connecting the cover With the back plate.

Projecting upwardly and forwardly from the back plate I0 near the upper edge thereof and more or less close to one of the sideflanges flrl of said plate is aresilient sheet metal atch 2D tapered toward its free end and normally-extending parallel to said flange. In the present instance, I have shown the catch located near the right hand vertical flange of the back plate, and formed on the catch is a base flange 2| spotwelded or otherwise fixed to said plate. The catch is thus rigidly and permanently secured in position.

In Figure 1 of the drawings, I have shown a conventional gas container 22, and, in dotted lines, have also shown the usual outlet equipment associated therewith. As will be perceived, the hood will, when the cover I4 is closed, adequately shield and protect said equipment. Formed in the lower ends of the flanges ll of the back plate H] are openings 23, and formed in the side walls l6 of the cover near their lower rear corners are like openings 24 adapted to register with the openings 23 when the cover is closed. These openings are adapted to receive a conventional lock 25 at either one side or the other of the cover for Securing the cover closed.

It is now to be observed that when the cover I 4 is closed, as seen in Figure 1 of the drawings, the flanges ll of the back plate I 0 are snugly received in the channels I8 on the side walls 16 of the cover. An interlocking joint is thus provided at the vertical edges of said side walls be,

tween the back plate and cover to afford rigidity and stability to the cover when the cover is closed. Furthermore, the rear edges of the side and front walls of the cover are spaced away from the back plate so that the wall or other object to which the back plate is attached will not contact the cover or interfere with the pivotal movement thereof.

To open the cover l4, it is swung upwardly to a position a little above the position shown in Figure 2 of the drawings, when, by flexing the free end of the catch 20 laterally, said end of the catch may, as the cover is lowered slightly,

engage the cover when raised for holding the cover in open position, and means carried by the cover for holding the free end of the catch flexed.

3. A hood for bottled gas containers including a back plate, a cover pivotally connected thereto, companion means carried by the back plate and said cover respectively and adapted to mate when the cover is closed and form an interfitting joint between the back plate and cover, and means carried by the back plate and I movable to engage said first mentioned means be moved, as shown in Figure' l, to engage in p the adjacent channel E8 of the cover. The channel will then hold the catch flexed so that the catch will function, as shown in Figure 2, to .rigidly sustain the cover in open position. To subsequently return the cover to closed position, it is only necessary toraise the cover slightly until the free end of the catch 20 clears said channel, when the catch will snap back to normal position out of the way so that the cover may then be freely swung downwardly to closed position.

Having thus described my invention, claim is:

1. A hood for bottled gas containers including a back plate having vertical side flanges thereon provided at their upper ends with ears, a cover having side walls provided at their rear edges with channels adapted to receive said flanges when the cover is closed and form an interfitting joint between the back plate and cover, said ears being accommodated in the upper ends of said channels, means extending through said side walls, the ears and said channels pivotally connecting the cover with the back plate, and a resilient catch fixed at one end to the back plate and free at its opposite end, the free end of said catch being adapted to be flexed to engage in one of said channels when the cover is raised for holding the cover in open position.

2. A hood for bottled gas containers including a back plate, a cover pivotally connected thereto, a resilient catch fixed at one end to the .back plate and free at its opposite end, the free end of said catch being adapted to be flexed to what I on the cover when raised for holding the cover in open position.

4. A hood for bottled gas containers including a back plate, a cover pivotally connected thereto, and a resilient catch fixed to the back plate to normally project at its free end close to the path of movement of a portion of the cover as the cover is raised to open position and longitudinally flexible to engage the free end of the catch with said portion of the cover when the cover is raised for holding the cover in open position.

5. A hood for bottled gas containers including a back plate, a cover pivotally connected thereto, a resilient catch fixed stationary to the back plate to normally project at its free end close to the path of movement of a portion of the cover as the cover is raised to open position and longitudinally flexible to engage the free end of the catch with said portion of the cover when the cover is raised for holding the cover in open position, and means on said portion of the cover to engage the free end of said catch when the cover is raised for holding the catch flexed in engagement with the cover.

WILLIAM R. ROSE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,242,646 Bolinger Oct. 9, 1917 1,928,501 Otto Sept. 26, 1933 2,166,043 Double July 11, 1939 

